Inside the Beauty Insider: who we are

Beauty Insider was founded in 2010 as an independent professional blog dedicated to all things beauty. Today, we publish articles daily – covering every aspect of beauty and lifestyle, from personal reviews and experiences, seasonal makeup collections and cosmetic surgery, to fitness and nutrition. However, our main emphasis – and the majority of our content – is on makeup, skin and hair care.

Our Philosophy

We strongly believe that our opinion can only be valued if it is honest and unbiased. We do not publish ‘sponsored’ articles. We will never recommend a product we have not tried and tested ourselves – or the ones we did not like. Every review – positive or negative – reflects what we really think, not what the press release told us. However, we always remember that a product’s performance often depends on our own hair- or skin type and lifestyle – and make sure to take this into account in our statements.

We believe that any product should be judged on its performance – not its brand name or price point. (We even run a series of ‘blind tests’ – where we strip makeup and skin care of their recognizable packaging and evaluate them purely on what they deliver.)

We believe that small companies can produce something as exciting (often even more!) as major international corporations. We love trying out lesser-known brands – and getting amazing results: it is particularly rewarding to feel you are ‘discovering’ a new name for your audience. (We are especially proud to have introduced several new brands – like Icelandic Purity Herbs and skyn Iceland — and a completely new form of skin care, Filabe Cleansing Wipes, to the Russian audience.)

We believe in girl power =) There will always be a special place in our hearts for women who worked hard to chase their dream and companies founded and run by strong inspiring role models.

We believe that, if we love a product, the world needs to know =) We may mention it a hundred times in the next month — but wouldn’t you?

Our Founders

Our editorial board is comprised of two professional journalists and beauty editors — Yulia Grebyonkina and Yana Zubtsova, both with extensive experience in ‘women’s interest’ glossy magazines and digital publishing.

Yulia Grebyonkina — formerly an editor at Elle.ru and Glamour.ru. In 2012 she launched Allure Russia’s website. The platform for her own beauty blog, www.beautyinsider.ru, was a gift from her IT-specialist husband – he thought it would be a great hobby. Who could have thought what it would grow to become a few years later! Yulia started the blog as an outlet for her beauty obsession, with the goal of publishing her honest opinion on makeup and skin care she uses and loves — or doesn’t.

Yana Zubtsova was Russia’s first Beauty Editor (for Domovoy magazine in 1998), and since worked in the same role for Harper’s Bazaar Russia, as Culture and Entertainment Editor for Vogue Russia, and Beauty Director for Allure Russia. Currently, she writes for Russian Tatler, GQ Russia and Cosmopolitan Russia.

When she first discovered www.beautyinsider.ru, she immediately recognized its difference from all other beauty blogs in the Russian digital world. It only took a short meeting in a Moscow cafe: Yana and Yulia clicked immediately and joined forces in creating a professional – yet independent – beauty blog.

Since 2013, Yulia and Yana both have left their in-house positions and made Beauty Insider their main focus, workplace, and project.

Our Team

As Beauty Insider grew, so did its crew. At this time, we are a team of 13: chief editors Yulia and Yana, advertising director Olga Borisova — and a close-knit group of 10 authors, editors, and photographers:

Our Audience

• Our readers come from different backgrounds – some are beauty novices seeking the basics, while some have vast knowledge and rely on us to provide true insider information not available otherwise.
• The majority of our audience are well-travelled, educated young women with good command of Russian and English, residing mostly in Russia.
• We know that among our audience are quite a few industry professionals (chemists, makeup artists, beauty therapists, and salon owners). We speak the language of both the general reader and the industry insider.
• We find our readers quite discerning: they continuously inspire us to find new stories, angles, and delivery methods.

Beauty Insider Magic Box

In October 2015, we have launched our own beauty sampling service — Beauty Insider Magic Box. It reflects our philosophy: we only offer our subscribers the products we have personally tested and loved.

Since then, we have released 6 editions of our Beauty Insider Magic Box — most of which were wiped off our virtual shelves within a matter of hours. We encourage our subscribers to share their opinions on the sample products they received in the box, and then share these with the manufacturers.

Our famous guests and exclusive features

Beauty Insider had the privilege to interview celebrities and prominent figures in the beauty industry – and, sure enough, could not resist a photo op:) Here are some of the most memorable moments we shared with our readers:

Interview with Jean-Claude Ellena, head perfumer at Hermes, and his daughter perfumer Celine Ellena, at his house in Provence (see in Russian)

Private lunch interview with Frédéric Malle, perfumer and creator of the first niche perfume brand Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle (see in Russian)

‘Live’ coverage of Giorgio Armani’s first fashion show in Moscow – attended by Maestro Armani himself, with Linda Cantello, international makeup artist for Giorgio Armani Beauty (see in Russian)

‘Live’ coverage of Gucci SS2015 women’s collection fashion show in Milan – with Pat McGrath as key makeup artist. This was the first time Gucci used their own makeup brand backstage (see in Russian)

Interview with Sharon Stone as ambassador for Restylane Skinboosters (see in Russian)

Public talk (moderated by Yana Zubtsova) and interview with Dany Sanz, creator or Make Up For Ever (see in Russian)

Printed Publications

The book Beauty Myths: Truth about Botox, Stem Cells, Organic Cosmetics and Everything in Between (published by Alpina Publishing, in Russian only) grew out of a very successful column in our blog, where Yana Zubtsova addressed most common myths related to skin care, with the help of Dr. Tiina Orasmae-Meder – a medical professional, beauty therapist and founder of her own professional skincare brand, Meder Beauty Science, who explained the truth behind the matter.

We are immensely proud to have become the Russian voice of Lisa Eldridge – an influential and inspirational figure in the world of beauty, renowned makeup artist and beauty guru, currently – Creative Director for Lancome. We have translated the Russian edition of Lisa’s book Face Paint: The Story of Makeup: translation by Olesya Farrell, editing by Yana Zubtsova.

Media Coverage

The British LOOK magazine named us the best beauty blog in Russian (А КОГДА ЭТО БЫЛО?)

Interview with Yana in the Dutch beauty blog, BeautyLab.nl – introduction in Dutch, interview below in English (2011)

Our Contacts

Disclaimer:We do not publish sponsored articles. Please remember: by providing a product for testing and review, you entitle us to publish our own subjective opinion on its quality and performance. Same principle covers any and all salon services tried and tested by the Beauty Insider team.

PR-departments of cosmetics manufacturers and distributors, beauty salons and aesthetic clinics can contact us at: